This is the time of the season when teams with no playoff possibilities can be a real thorn in the sides of those teams still trying to qualify for the postseason, or position themselves for better seeds.

They call that playing the role of the spoiler, and even though the Lakers are rarely in that position, they are this season. Coach Mike D’Antoni is relishing it.

“We talk about it, yeah, we want everybody to hate us at the end of the year,” he said before Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. “You know, we did get New York (this past Tuesday) and now we’re going to try to get Phoenix and then we’ll try and do them a favor by getting Portland (on Tuesday). We’ll have our chances, so hopefully we can do that.”

It sounded good, and looked even better when the Lakers built as much as a 26-point third-quarter lead on their way to a 115-99 victory over the Suns before 18,355 at Staples Center.

And to think that, as usual, the Lakers were well short-handed and without the services of Kobe Bryant (knee), Steve Nash (nerve irritation), Pau Gasol (vertigo), Xavier Henry (knee) and Jordan Farmar (groin strain).

The Lakers (25-48) not only hurt the Suns’ playoff chances, they snapped their six-game winning streak.

Chris Kaman, once again starting in place of Gasol, scored 28 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and doled out six assists to lead the way. Jodie Meeks scored 22 points, Ryan Kelly had 17 off the bench, Kendall Marshall had 13 points and 11 assists and Kent Bazemore and Nick Young scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Gerald Green led Phoenix with 22 points off the bench, Goran Dragic scored 17 and Markieff Morris had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

“Yeah, that’s definitely what we’re trying to do,” Marshall said. “We’re trying to be the player haters of the year. Basically, to mess up other teams’ playoff spots or getting into the playoffs. That’s our motivation right now, to keep getting better and to mess up the seedings for the playoffs.”

The top eight teams in each conference make the postseason. Phoenix (44-30) and Dallas are tied for the seventh spot in the Western Conference, with Memphis a half-game back in ninth with 2 1/2 weeks left in the regular season.

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Like Marshall, Young intimated the team is caught up in making life miserable for others.

“That’s a motivator,” Young said. “That’s what we’re motivated by and, you know, that gets us going. Any little ounce of motivation that can get us going, that’s what we need.”

As much as D’Antoni and the Lakers were looking forward to hurting another team’s playoff chances, first-year Suns coach Jeff Hornacek was concerned before the game. He remembered what happened this past Tuesday when the Lakers erupted for a franchise-high 51 points in the second quarter to blow out the Knicks (127-96), who currently are in ninth in the Eastern Conference.

“If you let them get going, get some easy shots early and get that confidence going, they’re just free-wheeling and you saw the other night when they put up 51 points in a quarter,” Hornacek said. “That’s what could happen to you if you’re not ready.”

He was so right. The Lakers led 26-15 after one quarter and 61-43 at halftime. They went up by as many as 26 points in the third quarter, during which they had a 17-0 run.

Phoenix chipped away at its deficit and pulled within 106-95 with 3:43 to play. But a layup by Kaman off an assist by Marshall and a steal and length-of-the-floor driving dunk by Kelly gave the Lakers a 110-95 cushion with 2:44 left, all but sealing the Suns’ fate.

Kaman has now started four consecutive games. D’Antoni admitted it’s going to be interesting to see what happens when Gasol returns. Before Gasol went down, Kaman had not played since Feb. 28, not because he was hurt.

“I don’t know,” D’Antoni said. “It’s tough because (reserve) Robert Sacre plays. They play the same type of game and it’s going to be tough. I’ll try to figure that one out. Up until now, that hasn’t gone too well. I’d love for him (Kaman) to play. But we’ll have to see what happens.”